He was to Oregon baseball what Len Casanova meant to football and Bill Bowerman did for track and field. He gave meaning to the phrase “die-hard Duck” as a former two-sport athlete in baseball and basketball and 23-year head coach. He never had a losing season in guiding the Ducks from 1948-70, winning 445 games with a .648 victory percentage.

He guided the Ducks to the pinnacle of collegiate baseball, a 1954 appearance in the College World Series after winning a District VIII championship. His record was the best ever in the now-defunct Northern Division. He posted records of 29-9, 25-7, 31-11 and 27-8 during a 1962-65 span and was district coach of the year in 1963. After his death in 1970, he was elected to the American Association of College Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame.